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Upcoming Events

The Bosque Education Guide Workshop

Saturday, November 7, 2009

At the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park

To reserve a space: call (505) 344-7240, or email: karen.herzenberg@state.nm.usThe Bosque Education Guide is a popular curriculum to teach about the Middle Rio Grande Valley ecosystem. The new 2008 edition is 699 pages and has activities for elementary through high school. The main activity has students set up a paper and cloth model of the river valley, placing plants and animals in the appropriate environments to show the bosque ecosystem as it was before major human alteration, then changing the pieces around to show how humans have impacted things in the last century. Finally, students conduct restoration projects on the model to see how land managers can maintain as much of the biodiversity and natural processes of the ecosystem without compromising the safety of our communities. The Guide has many activities to be done with students on field trips as well as in the classroom or schoolyard. Topics include the geology of the valley, surface and groundwater, the demands on the river's water budget, natural history information and human influence, several mapping activities and two web quests. A new chapter on "Fire in the Bosque" is an important addition in this time of predicted drought. The final chapter helps teachers plan service-learning projects with their students. A substantial background section and appendices including correlations to the NM state education standards round out the book. Many activities have been translated into Spanish and these can be downloaded in English and Spanish at the Bosque Education Guide website: http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/BEG/index.htmlWorkshop participants will receive the curriculum and an accompanying kit. The workshop and the materials for participants are offered through funding from New Mexico State Parks and Public Education Department Statewide Outdoor Classroom Program and are Co-sponsored by the NM Museum of Natural History & Science and the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park with long-term support from the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Bosque Initiative Group.Plan to be both inside and outside for the workshop, so dress in comfortable clothes for the weather that day. Bring a sack lunch, hat, water and sunscreen.The only cost for participants is the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park’s $3.00 per vehicle day-use fee (exact change or check).